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Abstract

We have synthesized boron-incorporated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) by decomposition of
ferrocene and xylene in a thermal chemical vapor deposition set up using boric acid
as the boron source. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy studies of the
synthesized CNT samples showed that there was deterioration in crystallinity and improvement
in alignment of the CNTs as the boron content in precursor solution increased from
0% to 15%. Raman analysis of these samples showed a shift of ~7 cm−1in wave number to higher side and broadening of the G band with increasing boron concentration
along with an increase in intensity of the G band. Furthermore, there was an increase
in the intensity of the D band along with a decrease in its wave number position with
increase in boron content. We speculate that these structural modifications in the
morphology and microstructure of CNTs might be due to the charge transfer from boron
to the graphite matrix, resulting in shortening of the carbon–carbon bonds.